In 2025, fire departments serving Elmwood responded to 24 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
95 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $375K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 22 | — | |
| 2022* | 6 | — | |
| 2023 | 26 | — | |
| 2024 | 17 | -34.6% | |
| 2025 | 24 | +41.2% |
* Well below Elmwood's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 7 building fires Elmwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 18 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Projection room, spotlight area | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 10 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 16.7% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Elmwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Match | 1 | 5.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Elmwood departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $81,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Elmwood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,468 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 375 | 27.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 8.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 51 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 40 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 37 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 35 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 28 | 30.2 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Elmwood. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Elmwood.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.